Box Score Feb. 26, 2010
Box Score
Durham, N.C. -
Away from wintry weather in New York, the Fordham baseball team battled back twice in a very tight game against the Duke Blue Devils on Friday at Durham Bulls Park in North Carolina. Unfortunately, an error in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Blue Devils the edge they needed for a 5-4 win.
For the fourth straight contest, the Rams' offense got on the board quickly, as Brian Kownacki led off the game with a ground rule double to right field. After Kownacki was sacrificed to third by Nick Martinez, Chris Walker laced a double down the left field line to score Kownacki.
Duke (2-3) answered right away in the bottom half of the inning on Jeremy Gould's RBI-single through the left side, scoring Ryan McGurdy, who reached on a double.
The Blue Devils then grabbed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third. Marcus Stroman led off the frame with a triple down the left field line, and later scored on a wild pitch.
Fordham (0-4) battled back to retake the lead at 3-2 in the top of the fourth. With two outs, the rally started with a single by Angelo Ponte. After Duke issued walks to Alex Kenny and Kownacki to load the bases, Martinez came through with a two-run single to left, giving Fordham the lead.
Duke tied the game at three in the bottom half of the frame on a Gabriel Saade infield single, scoring Will Piwnica-Worms from third. Piwnica-Worms had reach on an error and moved to third on a ground out and a passed ball.
The score stayed tied until the bottom of the eighth, where Dennis O'Grady was hit by a pitch and moved to third on a single by Jake Lemmerman. O'Grady then scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Saade.
The Rams however would not go away in the ninth, knotting the game at four. P.J. Como drew a two-out walk and scored on a double to centerfield by Walker.
Duke though took advantage of a Fordham error in the ninth to win the game. Lemmerman started the rally with a one-out single. After a fly out, Piwnica-Worms reached on an error with Lemmerman going to second. O'Grady followed with a single right to score Lemmerman for the winning run.
On the mound, Rich Anastasi (0-1) was the hard luck loser, allowing one earned run on four hits in 2.2 innings of relief, while Max Krakowiak had a very good start for Fordham, allowing two earned runs on six hits in the first six innings.
At the plate, Walker was 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI, while Martinez was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Kownacki also had two hits for the Rams.
The same two teams will have the second game of their series on Saturday, beginning at 2:00 PM.
